Australian Company Uses Extinct Mammoth for Lab-grown Meat
2023-04-01
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1An Australian company has made lab-grown meat using genetic information from a wooly mammoth, an extinct animal.
2The company launched the creation in a science museum in the Netherlands.
3It came just days before April 1, known as April Fools' Day.
4"This is not an April Fools' joke," said Tim Noakesmith, founder of the Australian company Vow.
5"This is a real innovation."
6The lab-grown meat, also called cultivated or cell-based meat, is made from animal cells and grown in a lab. Animals do not need to be killed to produce them.
7Supporters of cultivated meat say it is better not just for the animals but also for the environment.
8The company, Vow, combined genetic information from the mammoth and African elephants, the mammoth's closest living relative.
9The information was then put into a sheep muscle cell.
10In the lab, the cells increased in number until there were enough to make a meatball.
11More than 100 companies around the world are working on cultivated meat products.
12Experts say that if the technology becomes more common, it could greatly reduce the environmental impacts of meat production in the future.
13Currently, billions of hectares of land are used for meat production worldwide.
14Singapore is the only country so far to approve cultivated meat for humans to eat.
15Vow is hoping to sell its first product there - cultivated Japanese quail meat - later this year.
16Vow does not plan to put the mammoth meatball into production.
17Instead, the company created it to bring attention and get people talking about the future of meat.
18"We wanted to get people excited about the future of food... that there are things that are unique and better... and we thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter," Noakesmith told The Associated Press.
19Seren Kell is science and technology manager at Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant- and cell-based food.
20Kell said companies usually use cells from farm animals and seafood to develop cultivated meat.
21She noted that lab-grown meat can help reduce emissions from animal agriculture and satisfy worldwide demand for meat.
22The large meatball shown in the Netherlands was only for show and not to be eaten.
23However, the meatball was cooked, and people could smell it.
24Noakesmith said people who were there said it smelled like another cultivated product the company had produced, which was crocodile.
25He added that it is "fascinating" to think about smelling something from an animal that has been extinct for thousands of years.
26I'm Andrew Smith.
1An Australian company has made lab-grown meat using genetic information from a wooly mammoth, an extinct animal. 2The company launched the creation in a science museum in the Netherlands. It came just days before April 1, known as April Fools' Day. 3"This is not an April Fools' joke," said Tim Noakesmith, founder of the Australian company Vow. "This is a real innovation." 4The lab-grown meat, also called cultivated or cell-based meat, is made from animal cells and grown in a lab. Animals do not need to be killed to produce them. Supporters of cultivated meat say it is better not just for the animals but also for the environment. 5The company, Vow, combined genetic information from the mammoth and African elephants, the mammoth's closest living relative. The information was then put into a sheep muscle cell. In the lab, the cells increased in number until there were enough to make a meatball. 6More than 100 companies around the world are working on cultivated meat products. 7Experts say that if the technology becomes more common, it could greatly reduce the environmental impacts of meat production in the future. Currently, billions of hectares of land are used for meat production worldwide. 8Singapore is the only country so far to approve cultivated meat for humans to eat. Vow is hoping to sell its first product there - cultivated Japanese quail meat - later this year. 9Vow does not plan to put the mammoth meatball into production. Instead, the company created it to bring attention and get people talking about the future of meat. 10"We wanted to get people excited about the future of food... that there are things that are unique and better... and we thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter," Noakesmith told The Associated Press. 11Seren Kell is science and technology manager at Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant- and cell-based food. Kell said companies usually use cells from farm animals and seafood to develop cultivated meat. She noted that lab-grown meat can help reduce emissions from animal agriculture and satisfy worldwide demand for meat. 12The large meatball shown in the Netherlands was only for show and not to be eaten. However, the meatball was cooked, and people could smell it. Noakesmith said people who were there said it smelled like another cultivated product the company had produced, which was crocodile. 13He added that it is "fascinating" to think about smelling something from an animal that has been extinct for thousands of years. 14I'm Andrew Smith. 15Mike Corder wrote this story for The Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English. 16__________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18extinct -adj. referring to a plant or animal that no longer exists 19innovation -n. a new thing such as an invention, or a new way of doing something 20cultivated -adj. grown and produced under human care and control 21unique -adj. the only one of its kind; unusual and special 22promote -v. to help something develop or happen 23emissions - n. (pl.) things that are released into the environment such as gases or (sometimes) radiation 24fascinating -adj. very interesting 25_________________________________________________________________ 26We want to hear from you. 27We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 28Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.